Waterbury city workers have something more to celebrate. Over 400 blue-collar workers with AFSCME Local 353 won a contract that will provide generous wage increases over four years without major increases in their health care costs – an unprecedented accomplishment they never expected.
The contract which was approved in May, with wage increases retroactive to June 2022, includes a new salary schedule with higher minimum and maximum wage rates, along with an overall average wage increase of 13.6 percent. Other highlights of the contract include:
- Higher starting wage rates and top step wage increases averaging $4.33
- Step advancement for each year of the contract
- Payment for uniforms increased to $250, including for food service
- On-call rates increased from to $35 for weekdays and $45 for weekends
- Health insurance kept at 1% premium share
Eddie Cabrera is President of Local 353 and works as a Maintainer 2 at Crosby High School in Waterbury. He has been with the city for almost 21 years and represents a range of trade and service workers such as plumbers, carpenters, electricians, public works and food service workers who work for the city and in Waterbury public schools.
L-R: AFSCME Local 353 leaders David Semanoff (Executive Board member), Eddie Cabrera (President), Randell Lewis (Vice President), Kurt Thomas (Secretary). Missing from photo: Lenny Calo (Treasurer), Kimberly Walters and Bill Phelan (Executive Board members).
“As union president, this was the most I’ve ever seen,” Cabrera said. “It’s rare that we ever got a contract that was more than 10 percent. To get a good percentage rate throughout all four years was not something that has been done in more than a decade. The city was able to swallow the insurance and take care of us with salary, which was a big surprise.”
For Cabrera, the negotiations process, which started in March 2022, was a lot easier than predicted since the city understood the needs of the workers. Although the city had their own negotiations limits on wages in mind, they met Local 353 in the middle - to the shock of Cabrera and the negotiations team.
“The offer first came with a little less than what we agreed on,” Cabrera said. “So, we came back to them and asked, ‘Can you add another 1% per year?’ They said, ‘Yes’. And we took it like, ‘Wow, really? Did they just say yes?’”
According to Cabrera, past contacts with the city consistently included higher insurance premium share rates. He believes the new contract is a major improvement from where they have been in the last 12 years and “a start to what we can do towards the future.” After being underpaid for many years, the contract lifts Waterbury city workers to a higher standard and will allow them to have more money in their pockets during a time when the cost of food and necessities is high due to inflation. He credits the city being open-minded and the diligence of their Council 4 staff representative attorney, Gary Brochu, with helping them reach a strong contract.
“Both sides always came to an understanding,” Cabrera said. “If we didn’t agree on something, we discussed it or tried to come to an agreement, which we thought was fair on both sides on almost every subject. Gary played a big role. I feel if Gary was not on board, we would not have gotten to where we are right now.”
Besides supporting current members on the job, the contract will be integral to attracting and recruiting more staff to fill city job vacancies. Cabrera has already noticed a huge change in the number of applicants for jobs in his bargaining unit. Applicants for Maintainer 1 have already doubled and other jobs in food service, HVAC, and refuse are seeing an increase in job seekers.
“In certain departments already, I see a lot of applicants, which is something that hasn't happened for three years,” Cabrera said. “So, it's a big difference. Our goal is to keep going forward and start moving up the ladder. Once we continue accomplishing that, I think the city working base will be stronger. I believe the union eventually will get stronger with time.”
Waterbury, like other Connecticut cities, continues to grapple with high rates of poverty and the loss of factory jobs as our economy shifted into a service industry economy. According to the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, forty-eight percent of Waterbury’s households are cost-burdened, meaning they spend at least 30 percent of their total income on housing costs. Cabrera sees improvement in the overall city as tied with the union. One cannot grow and improve without the other. It’s a new chapter for him and Local 353 members and they look forward to not only being a part of the fabric of a changing city but contributing positively to it too.
“The union is going to play a big part at the end of the day,” Cabrera said. “We have to be part of the movement moving forward. Because if we're not, then why have the union? And I think we'll get there. It's just going to take some time. But I see the improvement.”
